Charlie had water droplets covering his whiskers, up his nose and in his ears. He shook his head briskly and then looked hopefully up at her. Was she going to do it again? He reached up one paw and tapped at the watering can.
“You liked it?” Laughing, the old lady tipped up the watering can and let another shower of droplets fall down on the plants – and the kitten. Charlie batted his paws eagerly, but still he couldn’t catch the water.
“I wonder where you came from?” the old lady asked thoughtfully. “I haven’t seen you before, I’d remember that lovely tabby pattern.” She reached down and gently stroked the top of the kitten’s head. “You don’t look like you’re lost. You’re definitely someone’s pet, you’re so friendly. But you don’t have a collar on…”
Charlie tapped the watering can again and she sprinkled a little more water on her patio, laughing as he danced about and tried to catch the water. At last she set it down by an outside tap and walked slowly back inside. Charlie padded after her. He liked this lady. She was fussing over him just the way he wanted and the water was a lot of fun.
“Oh no, I don’t think you should come inside, little one,” she said gently. “You’re someone else’s kitten and they wouldn’t want you coming in, would they? You go on back home now.”
She closed the glass door and stood just inside it, watching him. Charlie stared back and then stood up, putting his front paws on the glass and peering through. He mewed sadly and saw the old lady put her hand on the sofa and try to crouch down to look at him. Then she shook her head firmly, stood up and walked away.
Charlie sat down on the patio and wailed. He wanted her to come out and play again. No one would play with him. He was so lonely…
Five minutes later Charlie was inside the old lady’s living room, sitting on the arm of the sofa and nibbling a little cube of cheese.
“Yes!” Darcy ran back to high-five Bella, who’d set up her goal. “Three-one!” She waved jubilantly at Mum and Emma, who were standing at the edge of the pitch. Emma was jumping up and down. Mrs Jennings was trying to make sure everyone got a go at playing, especially as this was their first real match, but Darcy felt a bit bad that Emma hadn’t got to play for longer. She didn’t seem to be upset about it, though.
Darcy had been really worried when Mrs Jennings told them about the match – after all, they’d only been a team for three weeks and they definitely needed more practice. But Mrs Jennings promised it would be really good experience, even if they lost. And now they were winning! All that skills training Darcy had been doing in the park after school had made a difference. When the final whistle went, the score was four-two and the Willow Primary team just couldn’t stop talking about the match.
“Shall we go to the supermarket and get a celebration cake?” Mum suggested as Darcy got into the car. “I noticed the other day that they had some with footballs on.”
“Yes, please!” Darcy leaned back in the front seat, exhausted but beaming. She loved the idea of a special celebration tea. “I can’t wait for Sunday,” she added happily. Mrs Jennings had arranged another match – a friendly with a local school – for that Sunday afternoon.
“Can we get Charlie some cat treats too?” she asked as they took the cake to the tills. “I think we’re out of them.”
“Sure – I think they’re in that aisle.” Mum pointed, and Darcy hurried off.
“They were on three for two, so I got all the flavours,” she explained as she came back and put them in the basket.
When they got home, Darcy went to have a shower and then came down for a piece of cake. She opened the bag of cheese-flavoured cat treats and shook them. That always made Charlie come running – he knew exactly what the noise meant!
Nothing happened and Darcy shook the bag again, this time next to the open kitchen window. She expected to see a little tabby and white blur come dashing down the garden to bang the cat flap open, but still nothing. She stood in the middle of the kitchen with the bag, looking rather lost.
“Mum, where’s Charlie?”
Her mum looked up from cutting the football cake and glanced round the kitchen. “I expect he’s in the garden. I should put his food down actually. I forgot we haven’t fed him yet.”
“So … he hasn’t had any tea?” Darcy said, frowning. No tea and he wasn’t coming for his favourite cat treats? That was definitely strange, and worrying…
Darcy looked all round the house for Charlie – she wondered if Mum had accidentally shut him in one of the bedrooms. But she couldn’t see him anywhere. She stood in the garden and called for him, but no kitten appeared.
Mum went to look up and down the street at the front of the house. Charlie had wandered down the side path of the house before, and Darcy had found him sunbathing on the front wall. Will searched upstairs again, even going through all his toy baskets.
“I wonder where he can have got to,” Mum said as she came back in. “He’s usually good at turning up for meals, although…”
“What?” Darcy asked anxiously. “Although what, Mum?”
“Have you noticed that Charlie hasn’t been around as much over the last week? And he hasn’t been climbing on me while I’m working.”
Darcy shook her head. “No. He’s always here when we get home from school.” Then she was silent for a minute. Was he? Would she definitely have noticed? She’d been so busy with after-school football training and all the extra practice she was doing. “Mum, do you think something’s happened to him?”
“I’m sure he’s fine,” her mum said encouragingly, but there was still no Charlie.
Darcy was just starting to get really panicky when the kitten appeared, popping in through the cat flap and strolling calmly across the kitchen. He looked quite surprised when Darcy swooped down and picked him up for a hug.
“We didn’t know where you were!” she murmured, rubbing his ears.
Charlie blinked at her and nudged her chin with his chilly little nose. “Are you hungry?” Darcy asked him. She kept him cuddled in one arm and used the other hand to reach the bag of kitten food out of the cupboard.
Mum took over and poured biscuits into Charlie’s bowl. Darcy had expected him to leap down at once and start eating but he didn’t seem very interested. He just sniffed at the bag as she got it out, that was all. When she put him down next to the bowl he only nibbled a couple of mouthfuls and then he sat next to the food and started to wash. He didn’t seem to be hungry at all.
“Perhaps he doesn’t like it,” Will suggested, looking down at the cat biscuits. “I wouldn’t. It smells horrible.”
“He’s liked it until now,” Darcy said. “Why would he suddenly change his mind?”
“Actually, I’ve noticed he hasn’t been eating the whole bowl, recently,” Mum said. “Perhaps we should cut down on how much we’re giving him. If he’s not growing quite as fast now he’s a bit older, maybe he’s not as hungry.”
“Maybe…” Darcy sighed. She couldn’t help feeling there was more to it. But at least it was Friday and she could keep a really careful eye on Charlie over the weekend. They didn’t have much planned until her football match on Sunday afternoon so she could spend loads of time with him.
“Darcy, what are you doing?” Mum called out of the kitchen window.
“I’m trying to teach Charlie how to be a stunt cat,” Darcy yelled back. “He high-fived me! Did you see?”
“I can see him eating a lot of cat treats,” Mum said, a minute or so later.
“That’s how the training works. You reward them every time they get it right. Or almost right. He’s very clever,” Darcy said lovingly, holding out her hand for Charlie to tap. He sniffed at her hopefully, looking for another treat.